Details magazine's anti-db rant

[Ambulance Chaser]

In its latest issue, Details magazines has a rant urging men to stop wearing double-breasted suits.  What do you think?  On a related note, does double breasted work for sports coats, or should one stick to single breasted?

 

[Manton]

...

 

[drizzt3117]

While I would hesitate to follow advice from Details for a number of reasons... I think many people are not able to pull off a DB suit. I wear them fairly infrequently because I sometimes get the "trying too hard" vibe from them, and sometimes it's just blah... I can see some people pulling off the look and looking quite elegant but...

I recently interviewed a bunch of candidates for a fairly high level position here and one candidate showed up with a DB suit and paisley tie, and I just wasn't feeling it, maybe it goes back to grad school and one professor that could always be found sporting a navy DB blazer that just screamed academic...

 

[hermes]

i believe the article actually said that unless you're tall and thin, a db will essentially look like you're wrapped in a bolt of fabric instead of wearing a suit and as such, big husky fat men would do themselves a lot of good by avoiding a db

 

[globetrotter]

I wear DB's about half the time. I think that it looks very powerful, very elegant, myself. A very, very common london city boy look is the striped DP in dark gray or black.

I am shaped more or less like a fire plug, and I find that it covers up a lot of my weaknesses and emphasizes my very few positive points - my shoulders, my chest, my neck. It seems to give me a little hieght, too,

on the other hand, I may be imagining it, and it may simply make me look like a sausage.

 

[Renault78law]

i think that double-breasted suits are the height of elegance only if fitted properly. it's much easier to pull off an ill-fitting single breasted suit than double. with so many button arrangements, i think a DB suit could theoretically look great on anyone.

 

[drizzt3117]

globe:

The individual in question was relatively short and rotund and I got the impression the DB suit enhanced those characteristics... add in the tie and I got a distinctly unfavorable impression from his clothing. It may be shallow but when candidates have similar qualifications...

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I recently interviewed a bunch of candidates for a fairly high level position here and one candidate showed up with a DB suit and paisley tie, and I just wasn't feeling it, maybe it goes back to grad school and one professor that could always be found sporting a navy DB blazer that just screamed academic...

Unless you're interviewing for a job as Pat Riley's personal assistant, a DB suit for an interview is a bad idea no matter what you look like.  I have one DB suit in my wardrobe that I like to wear as a change of pace.

 

[Kai]

A properly fitted DB suit can look very nice. DB suits will still be here long after Details has gone away, I should think.

I love DB suits. I own three of them. In my opinion, the DB suit is a timeless classic.

 

[justlurkingthanks]

A DB is good on a slim or not-fat guy. The problem is the double-breasted abomination that buttons only on the bottom button -- those things are hideous and will always mean "Chess King" to me. (If you were not sentient in the '70s and very early '80s, that reference means nothing.)

The good DB is the one where you can button two of the three. That's an elegant look, the Prince Charles thing.

 

[water]

I agree with a lot of what has already been said... I think a DB suit looks fine if it is a slim cut worn by a thin guy.

On a larger gentleman it really looks like a case of "who is hiding all the pies?"

 

[imageWIS]

Um...what?

DB suits are not formalwear, SB is. White tie is SB, black tie is traditionally SB, tails are traditionally SB; so from whence did people acquire the notion the DB was elegant / formal wear ?

Naturally, the assumption is that when people discuss jackets they are speaking of primarily sports coats / blazers / suits which is fine, except when you completely disregard the entire usage and history of the DB whilst attacking the entire usage of one particularly important segment of the DB as a whole.

I will note that the DB tuxedo is a look that is quite an attractive proposition if properly worn and cut on the right-sized / shaped man.

Furthermore, since when have people on this forum really paid attention to what outsiders insist is the correct form of action regarding sartorial dress? Especially when even Flusser's ideas and "˜rules' are questioned and minutely scrutinized?

Jon.

 

[jcusey]

DB suits are not formalwear, SB is. White tie is SB, black tie is traditionally SB, tails are traditionally SB; so from whence did people acquire the notion the DB was elegant / formal wear ?

No, this isn't correct. A tailcoats no longer button; but they have three buttons on each side, which indicates that they are derived from a double-breasted coat. If we accept that the first tuxedo was made by cutting the tails off of a tailcoat, that means that semiformal dress derives from a double-breasted coat.

 

[jcusey]

The problem is the double-breasted abomination that buttons only on the bottom button -- those things are hideous and will always mean "Chess King" to me. (If you were not sentient in the '70s and very early '80s, that reference means nothing.)

It's not necessarily an abomination. It all depends on cut. Those low-slung things from the '80s certainly are, but take a look at a picture of the Duke of Kent and tell me that it can't be elegant.

 

[The_Foxx]

Should anyone doubt the elegance and style of the DB suit, look no further than clarinetplayer's pictures...classic, man.

I have a pic of me in a brioni DB glen plaid on here somewhere, but the pic isn't very clear/ sharp.